SAN BERNARDINO—California’s State Highway system has more than 12,000 bridges, and since the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, Caltrans’ Seismic Retrofit Programs have focused on seismically retrofitting bridges and bridge expansion joints throughout the state. In this Caltrans News Flash, learn what Caltrans has done to prepare for large scale earthquakes at major interchanges and bridge structures. You will also see what Caltrans does when a quake of magnitude 5.0 or larger occurs.
The current Seismic Retrofit Programs have been focused on identifying and retrofitting existing bridges statewide, bringing them up to the latest seismic safety retrofit standards established to prevent collapse during future earthquakes.